Nine
by JinniaFlyer450
Summary: Cassidy moves to a new school, and weird things start happening...I know this is way too surreal for most people, but if you're into extremely different things, you'll like this.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Les Miserables. ****Please don't sue!**

In an old, broken down factory at the edge of town, eight girls wearing vests were holding a meeting around a circular table. Most of the girls seemed impatient, as if waiting for something extraordinary to happen…

_The first girl, sitting at what was more or less the head of the table, had silver blond hair and sharp blue eyes that seemed to contain a fire unmatched by any of the others. Her vest was golden, rather than the brown or gray or black sported by the others. A stray flame would occasionally alight on her hair, which she, with a tired expression, would extinguish. She also seemed to be the leader of the group, casting glances about to each girl, waiting for everyone to quiet down._

_The chair at this girl's right-hand side was empty. The first girl seemed anxious about this, and her gaze was almost willing it to be filled._

_The second girl had messy brown hair, and her playful demeanor was incased in her brown eyes. After finishing a joke, she grinned and pointed at a large stack of books. The books then flew apart and spread in a messy pile. Then, she pointed at a large red flag resting against the wall, which unrolled itself and fell on the floor. The leader looked at her, annoyed._

_"Cora, pick those up, and put them back. The books were in alphabetical order."_

_Cora snorted unhappily ("I was only having a little fun!"), but the leader's harsh gaze drove her to go complete the task, albeit in a begrudging manner._

_The third girl was rather short. Her suspicious green eyes peered out from under her dirty reddish hair. She gazed around shiftily, apparently looking for anything dangerous. She did not seem to relax as Cora did. One of her hands flickered back and forth from flesh to shadow and back. Cora, momentarily distracted, looked at her._

_"Florie, there are no monsters here. Enjoy yourself!"_

_Florie didn't take this advice._

_The fourth girl was sleeping. Her dirty blonde hair stretched over her eyes. She was snoring loudly. The leader rolled her eyes._

_"Looks like we're going to be having this meeting without Gretchen—again." The others laughed._

_Girl number 5, at the opposite end of the table, had yet to sit down. When she did, she let out a yowl, and got up very quickly, removing a solitary tack from her backside. _

_"Who put this tack on my chair?"_

_Cora let out a giggle._

_"I-I'm sorry Leslie!" she managed to squeak out. "The tack was meant for Angie…oops…" She peered sheepishly at the leader._

_Angela scowled and the entire top of her head burst into flames, while Leslie, ever cheerful, sat down again, beginning a joke. She adjusted the bandanna on her head, a present from the others after her first chemotherapy treatment._

_The sixth girl looked very worried. She was leafing through a large book, which appeared medical in nature. _

_"Guys…do I look pale?"_

_Everyone groaned._

_"Julie, you idiot, you know what those do to you!" said Angela, snatching the book away, while shaking her head._

_"B-but…"_

_The 7__th__ girl's brown eyes looked rather dreamy. She was scribbling on a piece of paper, and didn't appear to be engaged in the general activity of the others. When she was quite finished, she stood up and cleared her throat._

_"NO, Janine! Not more of those! You're driving me crazy!" Girl number eight snatched the paper away. She gazed around the table, as if looking for someone to challenge her, and everyone felt sorts of unnatural anger rise in themselves, except for two people._

_Janine looked about to cry, and Julie was matching Girl eight's glare exactly. They looked as if they were about to fight…_

_"JULIE! BETSY! BREAK IT UP!" Angela yelled as she threw herself between them. "WE'RE HOLDING A MEETING!" The two girls did not want to "break it up", but as fire had consumed Angela's entire head by now, they decided not to take any chances. "Now, then," Angela said, calming down, "the meeting."_

_Gretchen lifted her head, seemingly disoriented. Cora made her way back to the table, rolling her eyes._

_Angela ignored them. "So, the portal…"_

_Everyone in the room stiffened._

_"I really don't think there's any way we can close the portal to Monsters unless we have our Ninth." Her eyes flicked to the empty chair._

_Betsy snorted. "You don't? I think we're strong enough!"_

_Angela glared. "It's not about strength. Something went very wrong last time. You know that. You all know that."_

_Florie shuddered. "Angie, that would be all well and good…except the Ninth might be in Japan. What in heck are we going to do then?"_

_"Whatever it takes."_

_Cora shook her head. "You're crazy. I don't see why we can't at least TRY to be normal kids, and leave the monster-fighting business alone!"_

_Angie stared at her. "It's your character talking, isn't it? You know very well why!"_

_Cora was eyeing the bookcase behind Angie._

_Gretchen locked eyes with Cora. "You—wouldn't—dare."_

_Everyone looked at her. It wasn't often that Gretchen spoke at meetings. "Anyway," she said loftily, "I completely agree with Angie. We need the Ninth." Then, she promptly went back to sleep._

_"Okay, then. Cora, you know very well why we have to do this. Has anyone seen anyone who could be the Ninth?"_

_Everyone shook their heads. Suddenly, Janine began to shiver._

_"What is it?"_

_"Can't you hear it? Something's coming…something bad."_

_Then, everyone else could hear it, too._

_Bang! Crash! BANG! CRASH! BANGCRASH! _

_"Ahhh!"_

_"Sounds like more than one!"_

_"We can take them! Come on, guys!"_

_Angie stuck her head out the door, and then quickly took it back the room. "Cora!"_

_Cora pointed at a bookcase, which blocked the door._

_Angie looked deathly pale. "Guys...it's them!"_

_Squeals punctuated the air._

_"Florie…you know what to do. We can never come back here. They've found us."_

_Angie then thought to herself. "We can't keep this up forever! Come on, our Ninth, where are you! _

_. _

**If you're wondering what the heck this has to do with Les Mis, just read it over again...**


	2. A New School

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Les Miserables**** in any way, shape, or form. Please don't sue! Cassidy and the other OC's , however, are mine **

Cassidy gazed up at her new school, Weston Public, with her map in her hands. She was wearing a supremely heavy backpack, and a nervous expression.

She had moved quite a few times in the last few years, and she knew that the absolute worst time to start was anytime after September. It was November first now, and though she knew it would be easier than some of the other times she had moved, she was still bracing herself for it.

As she moved inside the hallway, she could see a knot of students in the middle of the hallway, blocking her way to her next class, and she could hear quite a ruckus.

"It was a joke! Just a joke! I didn't mean it-ow! That was not nice! Ow! AAHH!"

Cassidy eventually found her way to the center of the knot. She saw a larger, tough-looking boy beating the snot out of a smaller girl. The girl's brown eyes were circled in bruises.

"Isn't anyone going to stop them?" Cassidy asked the nearest person.

"I seriously don't think anyone knows how, unless they wanted to take her place." the other person said, eyes still on the fight.

Cassidy decided she had to do something.

"Like, excuse me?"

The boy stopped what he was doing, which was at the moment pinning the girl against the lockers. The girl fell to the floor in a heap of limbs.

"What, punk? I've got some pounding to do!" He glared at the heap of limbs, which froze.

"Why are you, like, pounding her?"

"She dropped her books on my foot!"

The heap stirred, feebly. "It was just a joke-gasp! He's so thick I didn't-gasp-think he'd feel it-gasp!

"Well, I did, punk. What do you say to that?" He looked like he was about to go back to beating her up.

"WAIT! Listen…" Cassidy again caught the bully's attention. "You thought her dropping her books on your foot was, like, insubordination, right?"

"…"

"You thought she was, like, showing you up."

"Yeah!"

"And you," she said, turning to the heap, "thought that it was just a joke, and that it was funny."

"Yup."

"Well, were you trying to show him up?"

"NO!"

"See? It was just a joke, though not a funny one." She glared at the girl, then turned back to the bully. "If she promises not to pull any pranks on you again, can you promise not to beat her up?"

"Uhh…uhh…she won't promise that!"

"Won't she?" Cassidy turned to the heap. "If he promises not to beat you up, will you promise not to pull pranks on him again?" The heap grumbled and groaned, until the boy brought his fist to her face.

"YES!" she squealed, in a voice that sounded way higher than normal.

"Fine, but watch it, punk. Both of you. If you break our truce…" The bully clenched his fist, and the heap whimpered.

After the bully left, Cassidy helped the heap straighten back up into a girl. The girl wasn't exactly what one would call short, but she was a good two inches shorter than Cassidy.

"Are you, like, okay?"

The other girl sighed in relief. "My God…I really thought I was going to get it that time. Thank you!" She then grinned.

Cassidy grinned back. "What's your name?"

The other girl made a face. "Coriander Reynolds. I'd really prefer it if you called me Corrie, or Cora if you really must call me something more dignified. What's your name?"

"Cassidy Anderson."

Corrie grinned. "Well, Cass, I s'pose I'll be seeing you at lunch. Thanks again!"

Corrie then darted away.

Cassie gazed around at the now dispersing knot. The person who had talked to her earlier was gaping.

"Holy…crud…"

"You're going to catch flies, you know."

The other person shook herself and shut her mouth. "Honestly…I've never, like, met anyone who could tear Michael away from his like, prey…erm…other students, and Corrie has the scars to prove it. Wow! So, you're like, Cassie?

"Yes."

"I'm Leigh Ann. So, would you like to sit at our table today? I'm sure you'd, like, get along great with everyone!"

Cassie smiled. "Sure!" It seemed she had a new friend.

"Omigod, really? Great! See you at lunch!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassie slid next to Leigh Ann with her tray of Mystery Meat. Leigh Ann was already talking a mile a minute.

"…and this is Shellie. She is soooo sweet," she lowered her voice to a whisper, " but she really doesn't have much going for her in the brains department."

Leigh Ann then spotted a green-eyed redhead entering the lunchroom, and let out a high squeal.

"EEEEEEEE! KASEY!"

The other girl squealed back in an equally high manner.

"EEEEEEEE! LEIGH-LEIGH!

Kasey and Leigh Ann then hugged each other and squealed for about a minute before Cassie interrupted them.

"Umm…"

Leigh Ann looked at her apologetically. "Ohh…sorry. Kasey, Cassie. Cassie, Kasey.

Kasey scrutinized Cassie closely. "New girl?"

Leigh Ann nodded. "Yes."

Kasey turned toward Cassie. "Hmm…I like her."

"She called Michael off of Corrie."

Kasey's eyes widened. "That would totally explain it! So…we should probably give you the tour, huh?"

Cassie blinked. "That's, like, really nice of you, thanks, but I do have a map."

Leigh Ann giggled. "Not that kind of tour, silly!"

"What kind of tour, then?"

"The table tour! You really, like, need to know the social ropes around here!"

"Wow, thanks! Let's start!"

"Okay! Where we are right now…" Kasey motioned at her own table. "…is cheerleader territory. You do cheerleading?

"I did, at my old school."

"Sweet! Now, that table belongs to…"

Kasey and Leigh Ann proceeded to show Cassie every social group in Weston Public Middle School, from the jocks ("Like, don't you DARE touch Mitch. He's totally mine!") to the nerds ("Don't you think that they need to, like, get a life?")

Or at least, they showed her _almost _every social group.

"Wait a minute…who are they?" Cassie spoke, pointing to a small, square table full of girls in the far corner of the lunchroom. She could recognize Corrie Reynolds there, but the others' identities were unknown to her.

Leigh narrowed her eyes. "I was hoping you wouldn't, like, notice them, but I guess we'd have to tell you eventually."

"What's so bad about them?"

Kasey sneered. " Oh, you'll see. They're a little group we like to call the Ick-ular Eight." She paused for a moment. "Actually, it's more like the Ick-ular Six-we like Corrie and Les- but that's beside the point. I suppose you'd like to know who they are?"

"O-okay…" Cassie quivered, stunned by the girls' sudden change in demeanor.

"That one—you see her, the one with the silver-blonde braid?" Leigh pointed out the girl in question. " That's Angela. She's their leader. She wears nasty clothes, has a huge temper, and has absolutely no interest in popularity or boys. We think she's a dyke."

"Really? Omigod!"

"That one," Kasey continued, "is Gretchen. Everyone knows that she drinks, but she won't admit it. We think she's also a dyke, because she follows Angela around like a little puppy-dog."

"Those ones are Corrie and Leslie. Corrie's soooo funny, and Leslie's soooo sweet; poor thing, she certainly didn't ask for cancer. We've been begging them to ditch the others and sit with us since last year."

"That's Florence. She's Goth and antisocial. Get anywhere near her and she lashes out. The only people she tolerates are the others in the group."

"That's Janice. She's emo because she writes poetry and cries a lot.

"That's Elizabeth. She's verrry punk and gets in detention almost every day for picking fights. She has a temper only slightly better than Angela's."

"That's Julie. She's nerdy and paranoid. She always hangs around in the nurse's office for one reason or another. She's as nutty as a fruitcake.

"I can see, like, why you don't like them. They're all nasty or dorky. "

Kasey paused. "Heck yeah. But that's not all."

Leigh picked up for her. "There's something really, like, strange about them, even Corrie and Les. It's like they're all hiding something waayy important."

Cassie looked over at the Ick-ular Eight. She decided there was something undeniably odd about them, like an odd vibe they threw off. They spoke in furtive whispers, and seemed to live in their own world.

Suddenly, the leader—was it Angel? Angie?—stared directly at Cassie. The gaze in question was rather intense. After a few seconds, she turned away in disgust.

"Uh…what just happened?"

Kasey sighed. "We told you they were weird."

Meanwhile, at the other table…

"So," said Janine. "You think she could be one of us?"

Angela scowled. "Not—a—flipping—chance!"

Julie started shaking. "Angie, calm down…"

Gretchen made her voice go up half an octave, mocking Cassidy. "Like, look at me, I'm a bimbo cheerleader. La-la-la! EEEEE!" She then regained her normal voice. "No, she isn't one of us, ESPECIALLY given this is Combeferre we're talking about. Now, if it was Courfeyrac…"

Corrie huffed. "That was so nice. You know, I think that's the most wonderful thing I've ever been told, Winecask."

Everyone could tell Corrie had hit a nerve.

"You know, I don't have to tell you that I actually don't drink, just as I don't have to let you live right now, you little…" Gretchen then uttered an unprintable word.

"Well," Corrie grinned smugly "looks like someone needs some soap in the kisser. Here, give me a second and I'll go get it."

"I'd like to see you try! I'm double your weight!!"

"Cora, Gretchen, if you don't stop this right now…CORIANDER! GRETCHEN! IF YOU DON'T STOP THAT THIS MINUTE…"

Corrie flinched, and Gretchen clamped her mouth shut.

Janine was focused on something other than the skirmish.

"Guys…I do believe Angie's about to explode… and I mean it literally."

Everyone froze, and then zoomed into action. Corrie and Gretchen scooted away from Angela, while Leslie, Julie, Janine, and Florie escorted Angela out of the lunchroom and, though no one else knew it, outside.


	3. Squeaky Cheerleader

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Les Mis (****book belongs to Victor Hugo, play belongs to Boubil/Shounberg). I also do not own the series ****Animorphs ,**** (belongs to K.A Applegate/Scholastic.) from which I take some influences for this story. Cassie and the other OC's are mine, though.**

"I have to, like, walk home. I'll ruin my shoes!"

"I have to ride the smelly bus with my stupid brother. I'm sure he'll embarrass me!"

"Oh! Poor you!

"Aw…poor you!"

"EEEE!"

"EEEE!"

Cassie and Leigh squealed, hugged, and pulled apart.

"So, five o'clock, then. Let's see if we can talk on the phone for FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT!" Leigh was almost shivering in anticipation.

"Totally! There's, like, so much I have to say!"

"Like, me too! EEEE!"

"EEEE!"

"Well, like, goodbye! See you!"

"Bye!"

Cassie then looked at the sidewalk ahead of her, and had an abrupt mood swing. Ugh. Not only was the sidewalk going to ruin her shoes, she didn't know the way home. Let's see, was it three rights and a left, or two rights, a left, and then another right? Despite this, she moved onward, cursing the drizzle and her parents for making her walk home.

Her parents were rather outdoorsy people, and they couldn't understand why Cassie preferred shopping and boys to hikes and swimming.

"Eeew!" she cried out as she lifted her high-heeled shoe and a piece of ABC gum came with it, officially breaking in the new set of heels.

Double ugh.

In her hopping, squealing, and pointing, she didn't notice that she became even more lost.

"Omigod, where am I?" Cassie looked around. This was definitely not somewhere for a squeaky cheerleader to be. This was the wrong side of the tracks. The streets were covered in garbage, and the crumble-down buildings were covered in graffiti; man, was she lost.

Suddenly, movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She whipped around, hoping not to meet some sleazy criminal intent on grabbing her purse…or worse.

However, her fears were unfounded, as it turned out to be only two girls, and two girls of small stature at that. After about thirty seconds, Cassie realized with a start that she knew the girls; they were Florence and Julie of the Ick-ular Eight. She wondered what in God's name were they doing here. Even though she didn't like them, she was much too lost to care—she had to ask for directions!

On second thought, Cassie wanted to know terribly badly what they were doing in these parts, and she had the feeling she would never get to see why if they saw her. She crept closer, hiding behind a building.

She could see Florence and Julie going up to a high, chain-link fence. They appeared to be arguing animatedly about something. After a little while, Julie sighed in defeat, and offered her arm to Florence. Florence grinned, then disappeared!

Cassie blinked, then gaped. No, she didn't disappear, she convinced herself. She probably just moved into the shadows. She also decided this would make good gossip and continued to watch as the same shadows that seemed to envelope Florence started to consume Julie, who was shivering madly as she disappeared. About two seconds later, they appeared on the other side of the fence. Cassie could hear them talking:

"H-how c-c-can you l-l-ive with that?" Julie's teeth were chattering.

"I am Florie. I have long since learned to be a creature of shadows. Now let's go, before we're late and Angie kills us!"

"Have you been hanging around Jannie again?"

"Maybe I have. What's it to you?"

Julie was laughing.

"What?"

Wait a minute…there was a meeting somewhere? Omigod, this was beyond good gossip. Cassie decided this was too good to miss, and continued to follow them until they reached a large, gray, crumbling stone building, which they then disappeared inside. Cassie peered out of her hiding spot, and decided it was safe to come out in the open. She snuck along, tip-toeing towards the door.

She suddenly felt her Aeropostale shirt tighten around the collar. She gagged helplessly, while attempting to see her captor.

"Well, look what the Chanel cat dragged in," Cassie finally was allowed to turn around, though her captor still had her collar and recognized Gretchen.

Oh, dang it, she had forgotten about the others.

"What brings you on our territory, blondie cheerleader?" Gretchen's voice was a low and muddy drawl; Cassie knew a southern accent when she heard it.

"Hey! I'm not blonde!"

"Might as well be. Answer my question."

"Why do I have to, redneck!" Cassie attempted to copy Gretchen's twang, mocking her.

Admittedly, not the smartest thing to do, considering that Gretchen had control of her airflow.

Gretchen tightened her grip, and leaned closer to Cassie, spitting. "Blondie, you have no idea whatsoever who you are dealing with. Answer my question, now, before I squeeze you even more and you go to little squeaky cheerleader H-E-double toothpicks.

Cassie had no idea if Gretchen was serious, but she wasn't about to chance it. "OKAY!" she gagged, desperate. "I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING, JUST LET ME BREATHE!"

Cassie dropped to the pavement, where she wheezed in gasps of air. She realized Gretchen still had a threatening hand on her arm, just daring her to run away.

Oh, darn it.

"Okay…so I had to walk home, and I, like, got this, like, icky ABC gum, like, all over my shoes, and I ran because that is like, so gross, and then I found your friends and they, like, disappeared, and I, like, wanted to know why and so I, like, followed them and then you, like, cut off my, like, air supply. So, there! Please don't, like, kill me! That would be so totally bad!"

Gretchen gave a tired, frustrated sigh, as if they had dealt with things like this before. "Depends on who you ask. Oh, dear, you saw Florie? I guess I have to ask Angie for the memory wipes again." She then clamped her hand down on Cassie's arm and led her into the building. Cassie gaped.

"What do you mean, memory wipes? You're going to, like, mess with my head? Omigod, no way! What's, like, wrong with you?"

Gretchen said nothing.

Finally, Cassie and Gretchen entered their destination, a small concrete room. Cassie could recognize all of the Ick-ular Eight, each in various expressions of shock, or anger.

"I found Blondie outside. She saw Florie and Julie, and, as if that isn't enough, FOLLOWED THEM HERE!"

Angie looked extremely ticked off.

"You let HER SEE YOU?!" she yowled. Julie and Florence shrank into their seats. Angie then lost a lot of the pure infuriation and settled into frustrated resignation.

"Leslie, will you take our little—guest—to another room? We have to decide something. Oh, and use the blindfold and rope. We can't have her trying to escape."

Cassie was then seized by the wrist and brought to another room. Leslie then brought out a piece of cloth, of a horrid brown color, and a scratchy rope. "I'm sorry," she said, as she deprived Cassie of her sight and hand usage, "I don't want to do this to you, but I promise you, it's for the best, okay?"

Cassie was cursing the Ick-ular Eight to the best of her ability.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So," Janine opened as Leslie slid back into her seat. "What do we do with her?"

Florie cleared her throat. "I think the memory wipes are a valid suggestion. She'd forget about us, and we won't need to worry about it again."

Angie looked murderous, but she gave Florie a begrudging nod.

Corrie looked around, seeming a little nervous. "Actually, maybe…just maybe…she's one of us? She…"

Angie nearly blew the roof off, both metaphorically and literally. "THAT BIMBO? Corrie, have you lost your mind? I know it takes only one trait to tip us off, but tell me, has she even shown ONE strong trait in common with Combeferre?"

"Actually…there's something I haven't told you… I was picking on Michael again."

Angie snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"He proceeded to start beating me up, right? Cass comes along, and she was able to reason with him into letting me go. No one, not even one of the teachers, has ever been able to do that. That has got to say something, though how you interpret it is up to you." Corrie sat down, eyeing Angie uneasily.

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER?" Angie burst into flames.

"If I had told you then, you would have exploded in the crowded lunchroom…with everyone watching. Here, at least, you don't blow our cover."

Leslie laughed. "Corrie, using good reasoning and logic? Are pigs flying outside?" Everyone else joined in, except Corrie, who scowled.

Julie shook her head. "She's too different. Sure, she did that, but that was one, small thing, and it may well have been an isolated instance."

Corrie, Leslie, and Betsy started to laugh. Betsy regained herself and spoke, "Julie, you of all people, suggesting that a seeming polar opposite could not be one of us, what with your own particularly bad case of character shock? Need I remind you of some of your antics before Joly that involved…ah, questionable sterility?"

Julie somehow managed to turn dull green and crimson at the same time.

"NO, no, you don't. I'm convinced! Don't tell me!" she said hurriedly.

Janine looked rather thoughtful. "Maybe…we could have her try on the last vest with the blindfold on and see what happens? If she's normal, it won't affect her anyway and she won't be given any new information. If she's one of us, we'll know for certain."

Betsy gaped. "Janine, you aren't often right, but when you are, you're absolutely brilliant.

Angie gave an involuntary growl. "There are still so many things that could go wrong…No way…" Gretchen nodded in agreement.

Leslie, in a moment uncharacteristic of her, growled back, "Oh, come off it. You just don't want to do this because you don't want to have to deal with a Barbie Girl on the team, sweetheart, especially since this is supposed to be your mentor."

Angie looked as if she meant to relieve the team of one Leslie in two seconds, and she started on fire. After a long, uncomfortable silence, she spoke, gratingly "See, character shock is never complete, even with you. Your character would have never lashed out like that. So, I will give you the vest to use, but she will always be a bimbo, even if she is one of us, and don't you forget it." She then thrust a vest into Florie's hands, and then turned away to sulk. Gretchen followed her.

The others turned and walked swiftly down the hall.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassie stirred. She could hear the door open, and several sets of footsteps.

"Omigod, what are you doing? Tell me!" she cried out. She felt someone cut her bonds, and then the sensation of someone slipping something feather-light around her shoulders.

Suddenly, she felt a slight pain. That pain multiplied until it became almost unbearable. She longed to die to just escape it!

"AAAAAAH! OMIGOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING! MAKE IT STOP!"

Too much pain. Too much. A second later, Cassie blacked out.

Six of the group known by others as the Ick-ular Eight was standing around their newest member.

Julie gazed down sympathetically. "I guess this isn't a very good welcome party, is it?"


	4. Shadow Cat

**Disclaimer: I do not own Les Mis in any way, shape, or form. The original characteristics of Cassie and the other OC's are mine, though.**

Cassie woke up with a headache—and a foul mood.

"Omigod, what happened? Take off the blindfold and the rope. Now."

Leslie obliged.

"Omigod, that was so, like, MEAN!"

"Listen-"

Cassie's face scrunched up, as if she was about to cry. "No, you listen! That was a dirty trick! That HURT!"

"No, wai-"

"I'm not staying, you creeps!"

Cassie turned, as if to leave, and tripped over something.

"Mew!" Cassie smiled at the creamy white kitty that was now rubbing against her leg, then picked her up and started cooing at her.

"Silly Lily, how did you get outside? You know you hate it as much as I do! You're still such a pretty kitty, sweetie pie. Aww…" Cassie brought Lily up to her face, and giggled.

Angela was truly turning green. Corrie was gagging, but everyone else could tell it was rather fake.

Lily then caught sight of the others, and her demeanor changed. Her eyes narrowed, and her fur stood on end. She yowled, and scratched Cassie who then dropped her. A long red line appeared down Cassie's nose.

"EEEEE! Hey! Bad Lily! Bad Lily! Don't scratch Mommy!"

\Lily then hissed, streaked across the dirt-stained floor, and leaped at Angie's chest, all claws outstretched.

Since Angie was too surprised to dodge the attack, Lily met her target.

"Ahh! Gerroff me, you stupid cat!" She managed to pull the cat off her, but Lily only came in for another round.

Cassie was jumping up and down, grinning, and cheering.

"Yeah, Lily! Beat her up! Scratch! Bite! Yeah! Beat up the meanie!"

Corrie turned to Florie and whispered, "I wonder if we hallucinated the whole thing, and she really is a hapless cheerleader who just happened to wander in."

"Me too."

Lily then went for Corrie, and you could almost see the light bulb over Angie's head. Her eyes were filled with a new understanding.

"Florie…you know where the rock is, right? I think she's one of…them."

Florie disappeared, and brought back an oddly purple stone, which Corrie shoved down Lily's throat. Lily nearly choked, but managed to swallow it.

"HEY! OMIGOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER? SHE COULD HAVE, LIKE, DIED! YOU ARE SO SICK!"

Lily then coughed up what appeared to be a dark shadow. Florie gathered it into an oblong bottle. Lily then lost the demented air about her, and gave up on attacking Corrie, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"My God! Did you train her to do that?"

Lily purred.

Cassie reeled on the others. "YOU ARE SO SICK! MY GOD, YOU ARE SO UGLY, DISGUSTING, AND WRONG!"

"Listen-"

"SHUT UP, YOU EMO FREAK!"

Jannie's face crumpled. She began to sniffle.

"Now, see here, blondie, if you mess with-"

"GO AWAY! I'M LEAVING!"

Cassie stormed out the door with her cat, leaving the vest and a stunned silence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Julie was gaping. "Holy…"

Angie was grinning. "She'll be back."

Betsy turned on her. "What makes you so sure?"

"You came back, didn't you, and you didn't get half the character shock that's in store for her."

Betsy flushed crimson. "Stop that! You know none of us like talking about character shock. You don't know what it's like. You never had to go through it!"

Corrie snarled at Angie. "Yeah, dip-face."

Angie snarled back. "Don't call me dip-face, air-head!"

Janine stared at them, then turned to the others. "Quick! Get them!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cassie finally got home, and poured Lily some cat food.

"Much better than that, like, rock, isn't it? I know, I know! Aww!"

"Mew! Purr…"

Cassie then decided to call Leigh.

"Leigh? Omigod, you would not believe what happened!"

"What?"

After that afternoon, what followed seemed uneventful. Cassie did her homework (amid grumbles and groans) and went to bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Cassie woke up, even before she opened her eyes, she knew something was terribly, horribly wrong.


End file.
